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Trip report 4-29 thru 5-9 part 1
Trip report 4-29 thru 5-9 part 1
This was our first trip to St. John and we LOVED it.
My DH and I arrived on a Monday and had rented a jeep from discount on st Thomas. Loved the convenience of having the car right away and feeling like our vaca started right after we landed. When we got to St. John we stopped at candi's BBQ. Food was good after a long travel day. We were waiting for the manager of the house we rented to call which they hadn't so we went to hawksnest. Honestly after looking at the pictures online and waiting so long I couldn't wait any longer to see the beach with my own eyes. We were stunned by the beauty! I still think this may have been the most gorgeous beach we went to. We swam for a bit in the afternoon sun and let the setting sink in. We had to drive back to Cruz bay so I could go online and track down multiple phone numbers for the managers. Not a great start there. Finally got ahold of them and got to the villa. We were staying in coral bay and loved our villa just not the managers for multiple reasons. Since we have left the owners have secured new management and we would definitely stay there again. Anyway we settled in, jumped in the hot tub and let the day relax away while we stared at the stars.
Tues.- woke up early and watched the sun rise. We went to pickles for breakfast, which would become our go to on the run food, and then off to Maho.
Found a great spot under a sea grape and chilled. We snorkeled the left side and saw some pretty fish which was a great intro. We went to Chateau Bordeaux for lunch.
Food was pretty good but my husband is a big eater and he def. could have used more food. He loved my roti and ate some of that! Had a little rest and followed that up with little lameshur. Wow, that road is Rough! We snorkeled the left side and saw lots of great stuff. We also walked up to the ruins right off the beach which made for some great afternoon shots. Left there and went over to big lameshur and walked the beach. Watch out for baby cacti everywhere! That would hurt! Stopped by Ekaete pink corner for a smoothie. Almost the only time it was open that we saw it. Then home for a pasta dinner followed by hot tub and early to bed.
Wed.- breakfast at Donkey Diner. DH got a jalapeño popper omelet that had ricotta cheese and he still hasn't stopped talking about it. Really yummy food. Bummed to hear they are closed. They weren't open their regular hrs for sure when we were there and we talked to the ice cream shop lady (sorry forgot her name). She said they were having trouble finding reliable staff. Hope they open again though. Loved their breakfast. Followed that up with the east end. Went to princess bay and did the mangrove snorkel. Probably shoulda waited on this til DH was a little more comfortable snorkeling.
It was a challenge. It was so shallow and so many stinging things with the fire coral, upside down jellies etc. his mask kept leaking because of his mustache which led to a new style called the snorkelstache for the rest of the trip. Funny! I would do the mangroves again though, lots too see but gotta be comfortable. Went out to Vie's from there for lunch. A chicken stole our Johnny cake but Vie made us a new one! Went to her beach across the street after that for the whole afternoon. Loved it there! Had a great spot in a huge sea grape where we dozed between snorkels on and off for the rest of the day. Saw turtles for the first time there, yay!
Snorkeled both sides and across the middle. Loved the left side and saw the turtles in the middle. Dinner was at the house, leftovers.
Thurs.- we hung out and had breakfast at the house. After the slow morning we went to maho art gallery to scope out some Mother's Day gifts. We loved the glass and it turned out they were having a class the next day so we signed right up! We headed over to mongoose junctions and then Cruz bay for shopping. Found my mom and sister some Mother's Day gifts and then loaded up on gifts for all the rest of the fam. It rained most of the time we were shopping which didn't bother us a bit. We had lunch at Sam and jacks. Yum! After our shopping spree we went to trunk bay. By the time we got there it was sunny. Yay! We snorkeled and really were disappointed, maybe it was our timing but there weren't that many fish and a lot of the coral was covered in sand. We did see some bigger parrotfish and a bar jack was swimming around with us for a while which was fun. This was followed by beachin it til the no seeums started coming out. Next, hot tub, followed by cleaning up and dinner at aqua bistro. On the way out to the hot tub this guy did a kamikaze and almost hit DH in the head!
The food was yummy though I thought my mahi filet on the fish sandwich was pretty thin. The flavor was great and the service was superb. It was a slow night and the temp was perfect. It was a nice night. First time out after dark and I was a little nervous about the driveway but the DH handled it like a champ. He kept reminding me he used to be a valet. I reminded him that was almost 20 years ago! Well apparently it's like riding a bike, thankfully!
Fri.- I'm sad even thinking about being at the half way point of our perfect trip but alas here it is. Breakfast was at the house again. Then we were off to Francis bay.
We snorkeled out to the point stopping once at a little mini beach area for a rest. It had finally gotten a few degrees warmer to what I would consider hot, which is exactly what I was waiting for. Had picked up subs at pickles which we ate under some sea grapes. We beached until it was time for our glass blowing class. Made the short trip over to maho and a lady almost backed into us out of a driveway. I mean super super close! My DH quickly zoomed up a small driveway and got out of the way. Disaster and day ruiner averted! So we made it to class and Mariel our teacher had to constantly keep my husband from grabbing the hot metal rod!
Luckily she was awesome and we left injury free. We each made a sun catcher, a rose, and a starfish. It was super fun, super hot (especially on the slight sunburn from the 2 1/2 hr snorkel) and super awesome. Picked up carry out dinner at pickles and back to the house for a relaxing night in.
My DH and I arrived on a Monday and had rented a jeep from discount on st Thomas. Loved the convenience of having the car right away and feeling like our vaca started right after we landed. When we got to St. John we stopped at candi's BBQ. Food was good after a long travel day. We were waiting for the manager of the house we rented to call which they hadn't so we went to hawksnest. Honestly after looking at the pictures online and waiting so long I couldn't wait any longer to see the beach with my own eyes. We were stunned by the beauty! I still think this may have been the most gorgeous beach we went to. We swam for a bit in the afternoon sun and let the setting sink in. We had to drive back to Cruz bay so I could go online and track down multiple phone numbers for the managers. Not a great start there. Finally got ahold of them and got to the villa. We were staying in coral bay and loved our villa just not the managers for multiple reasons. Since we have left the owners have secured new management and we would definitely stay there again. Anyway we settled in, jumped in the hot tub and let the day relax away while we stared at the stars.
Tues.- woke up early and watched the sun rise. We went to pickles for breakfast, which would become our go to on the run food, and then off to Maho.
Found a great spot under a sea grape and chilled. We snorkeled the left side and saw some pretty fish which was a great intro. We went to Chateau Bordeaux for lunch.
Food was pretty good but my husband is a big eater and he def. could have used more food. He loved my roti and ate some of that! Had a little rest and followed that up with little lameshur. Wow, that road is Rough! We snorkeled the left side and saw lots of great stuff. We also walked up to the ruins right off the beach which made for some great afternoon shots. Left there and went over to big lameshur and walked the beach. Watch out for baby cacti everywhere! That would hurt! Stopped by Ekaete pink corner for a smoothie. Almost the only time it was open that we saw it. Then home for a pasta dinner followed by hot tub and early to bed.
Wed.- breakfast at Donkey Diner. DH got a jalapeño popper omelet that had ricotta cheese and he still hasn't stopped talking about it. Really yummy food. Bummed to hear they are closed. They weren't open their regular hrs for sure when we were there and we talked to the ice cream shop lady (sorry forgot her name). She said they were having trouble finding reliable staff. Hope they open again though. Loved their breakfast. Followed that up with the east end. Went to princess bay and did the mangrove snorkel. Probably shoulda waited on this til DH was a little more comfortable snorkeling.
It was a challenge. It was so shallow and so many stinging things with the fire coral, upside down jellies etc. his mask kept leaking because of his mustache which led to a new style called the snorkelstache for the rest of the trip. Funny! I would do the mangroves again though, lots too see but gotta be comfortable. Went out to Vie's from there for lunch. A chicken stole our Johnny cake but Vie made us a new one! Went to her beach across the street after that for the whole afternoon. Loved it there! Had a great spot in a huge sea grape where we dozed between snorkels on and off for the rest of the day. Saw turtles for the first time there, yay!
Snorkeled both sides and across the middle. Loved the left side and saw the turtles in the middle. Dinner was at the house, leftovers.
Thurs.- we hung out and had breakfast at the house. After the slow morning we went to maho art gallery to scope out some Mother's Day gifts. We loved the glass and it turned out they were having a class the next day so we signed right up! We headed over to mongoose junctions and then Cruz bay for shopping. Found my mom and sister some Mother's Day gifts and then loaded up on gifts for all the rest of the fam. It rained most of the time we were shopping which didn't bother us a bit. We had lunch at Sam and jacks. Yum! After our shopping spree we went to trunk bay. By the time we got there it was sunny. Yay! We snorkeled and really were disappointed, maybe it was our timing but there weren't that many fish and a lot of the coral was covered in sand. We did see some bigger parrotfish and a bar jack was swimming around with us for a while which was fun. This was followed by beachin it til the no seeums started coming out. Next, hot tub, followed by cleaning up and dinner at aqua bistro. On the way out to the hot tub this guy did a kamikaze and almost hit DH in the head!
The food was yummy though I thought my mahi filet on the fish sandwich was pretty thin. The flavor was great and the service was superb. It was a slow night and the temp was perfect. It was a nice night. First time out after dark and I was a little nervous about the driveway but the DH handled it like a champ. He kept reminding me he used to be a valet. I reminded him that was almost 20 years ago! Well apparently it's like riding a bike, thankfully!
Fri.- I'm sad even thinking about being at the half way point of our perfect trip but alas here it is. Breakfast was at the house again. Then we were off to Francis bay.
We snorkeled out to the point stopping once at a little mini beach area for a rest. It had finally gotten a few degrees warmer to what I would consider hot, which is exactly what I was waiting for. Had picked up subs at pickles which we ate under some sea grapes. We beached until it was time for our glass blowing class. Made the short trip over to maho and a lady almost backed into us out of a driveway. I mean super super close! My DH quickly zoomed up a small driveway and got out of the way. Disaster and day ruiner averted! So we made it to class and Mariel our teacher had to constantly keep my husband from grabbing the hot metal rod!
Luckily she was awesome and we left injury free. We each made a sun catcher, a rose, and a starfish. It was super fun, super hot (especially on the slight sunburn from the 2 1/2 hr snorkel) and super awesome. Picked up carry out dinner at pickles and back to the house for a relaxing night in.
Re: Trip report 4-29 thru 5-9 part 1
very cool...thanks for sharing...good pics too!
STJ Villa Map:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie ... 2&t=h&z=14
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie ... 2&t=h&z=14
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MadCityMom
- Posts: 124
- Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2013 5:45 pm
Re: Trip report 4-29 thru 5-9 part 1
Loving your report so far! Funny about your husband and driving. I get so nervous with my husband going uphill the driveway in reverse, but I close my eyes and cringe a bit and he always pulls it off. Whew! We think Hawksnest is one of the most beautiful beaches too. You did so much so far as newbies! That's awesome! 
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piscesgirl0314
- Posts: 598
- Joined: Thu Sep 25, 2008 12:31 pm
- Location: Chesapeake, VA
Re: Trip report 4-29 thru 5-9 part 1
GREAT report. Ya'll have done a lot for it being your first trip...LOVE IT!!!!
Re: Trip report 4-29 thru 5-9 part 1
Great report! You really got to some off the beaten path places for newbies.
And, I know exactly where you almost had your accident on the way to Maho! We rented the house with the driveway your husband went up last summer
Please post more soon. I am looking forward to reading the rest.
And, I know exactly where you almost had your accident on the way to Maho! We rented the house with the driveway your husband went up last summer
Please post more soon. I am looking forward to reading the rest.
It's like looking in your soup and finding a whole different alphabet.
Re: Trip report 4-29 thru 5-9 part 1
I'll echo Liamsaunt, you did get around for newbies! Good for you!
That is great that you got to Maho for the class. We tried to visit the glass works twice in February but it was closed both times. We did, however, find a couple of nice glass pieces at the Friends store.
Looking forward to more.
That is great that you got to Maho for the class. We tried to visit the glass works twice in February but it was closed both times. We did, however, find a couple of nice glass pieces at the Friends store.
Looking forward to more.
Re: Trip report 4-29 thru 5-9 part 1
Thanks everybody! Now I am encouraged to finish part 2! Besides then I get to relive it a little
Re: Trip report 4-29 thru 5-9 part 1
Good for you!!!
Thanks for the report & lovely pix thus far. Might have missed it,- where did you stay?
Looking forward to more-
Smiles-
MJ
Thanks for the report & lovely pix thus far. Might have missed it,- where did you stay?
Looking forward to more-
Smiles-
MJ
Re: Trip report 4-29 thru 5-9 part 1
Nice job! Always fun to hear those first impressions.
When we come to place where the sea and the sky collide
Throw me over the edge and let my spirit glide
Throw me over the edge and let my spirit glide
Re: Trip report 4-29 thru 5-9 part 1
I have been gong to St John for years and have always wanted to do the glass blowing class and you did it as newbies. I am so jealous and mad at myself because now I have missed it. Sounds like you had a wonderful and busy trip...thanks for your very nice trip report.
Re: Trip report 4-29 thru 5-9 part 1
I heard from a lady that made bracelets for Maho that the glass workshop is moving to either Caneel or Westin. When we did the class our teacher thought they would end up at Caneel. I hope they will still do the classes if it works out for them to move over there.
And to mahojim we stayed at Seawing just south of Coral Bay. It was really charming.
And to mahojim we stayed at Seawing just south of Coral Bay. It was really charming.
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EagleRayLover
- Posts: 1474
- Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2011 8:56 pm
- Location: St. John -WooHoo!!
Re: Trip report 4-29 thru 5-9 part 1
Sounds like an awesome trip so far!!
Leslie, Kids Night In Babysitting